@MHZ She didn't seem to think it was a big deal that she was 15 min. late twice within the first three weeks of work. It seems like some of us wanted to let her that a late train is not actually a valid excuse, especially not the second time. Once you learn the trains are not reliable, you need to leave extra early just in case. This is basic adult stuff. This is not to say that the woman treated her nicely or fairly, but the expectation that everyone would agree that her infractions were no big deal was a bit off putting.

I don't know why they had to have a "launch party" for a chair that is basically a replica of a classic Arne Jacobsen chair. It's a famous chair that has been copied many a time by various retailers so you can get a much cheaper version if you like it. I have these chairs but they're a version from West Elm or some place like that that I also got used on Craigslist.
The original design is of course, way out of my range.
http://www.dwr.com/product/series-7-chair-natural-veneer.do?sortby=ourPicks

I was friends with someone who was a salesperson at a very high end oriental carpet shop in the SF Bay Area. In the Bay Area especially, what with all the tech rich, it is very possible for a casually dressed person to have potential to be a big spender. He said that he could tell if they were rich, regardless of whether they were in t-shirts and jeans, by looking at their shoes and jewelry, especially women.
It's not that he was trying to treat people with greater means better, but it probably helps to get a sense of someone's disposable income when you are trying to make a sale. He might direct them towards a different level of quality/ price for instance, even if they say they are just browsing.

@muggles California has a law that if a gift card has 10 dollars or less on it, they have to give you the cash. Businesses were making so much money from remainders on gift cards that were too small to buy anything.

@ATF I feel you on the ordering thing. I also have a local grocery store that I sometimes stop by to grab a dessert. There are three areas that have desert-like items, and I have caught myself looking at the options in each section more than once. I had the thought that if someone was watching me on security cameras or whatever, they'd find me very suspicious, just walking back and forth in the store, inspecting things repeatedly. I definitely feel an edge of OCD there. Like, if you get something that isn't that great, you just won't get it again! Not the end of the world!

Yeah, I am a maximizer and the danger is that you wait so long that you lose/ forget about the credit.
There is one advantage to being obsessive about comparison shopping though. There have been times I just can't pull the trigger and then enough time passes that I just decide I don't need said item. So I end up buying less.
I also have a bad habit of spending gift cards on other people's presents. Like, I use amazon frequently for sending gifts, so if I have a gift card for Amazon it's hard to spend it on something frivolous for myself when it can pay for the next round of (carefully considered) gift purchases.